Electrical connector

ABSTRACT

A female electrical contact member having a noncircular socket passage therethrough and adapted to receive a male member with a similar noncircular cross-sectional configuration. The female contact member includes a plurality of twisted beams having internal tracking surfaces which are adapted to exert a torsional force on the associated male contact as it is inserted through the passage.

limited States Patent 1191 Jones June 4, 1974 [5 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR3,362,008 1/1968 Berg 339/258 R 3,396,364 8/1968 B h 339/256 R [75]Invent: i wesflake 3,439,316 4/1969 339/95 R Callf- 3.641,483 2/1972Bonhomme 339/217 5 [73] Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc., Chicago,

n Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay Assistant Examiner-Robert A. Hafer [22]led: May 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert W1 Beart; Thomas 21 Appl.No.: 356,651 Buckman 52 us. on. 339/217 s, 339/256 R, 339/95 R [57]ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl H0lr 9/08 A m e electrical contact member having anoncir- [58] Field of Search, 339/217 R, 217 S, 256 R, cular socketpassage therethrough and adapted to re- 339/256 C, 256 A, 256 T, 258 R,258 A, 258 Ceive a male member with a similar noncircular cross- C, 258F, 258 P, 258 RR, 258 T, 258 TC, sectional configuration. The femalecontact member 1 257, 74, 95 R includes a plurality of twisted beamshaving internal tracking surfaces which are adapted to exert a tor- [56]ReferencesCit d sional force on the associated male contact as it is in-UNITED STATES PATENTS serted through the passage.

3,286.67! l H1966 Fuller 339/256 R 12 Claims, 14 Drawing FiguresPATENTEDM 4:914 v 7 $15,081

sum in; 2

. l ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION One of the primaryobjectives in the construction of electrical connections of the maleand'female socket type, particularly those connections to be used inminiature environments, is the maximization of aggressive electricalcontact between the male and female members while minimizing thephysical dimensions of the connection. Prior art efforts to design suchelectrical connections have primarily centered around the concept ofproviding a spring element which is bent in toward the axis of thefemale socket member and which is radially compressed as the male memberpasses through the bore of the female member. Such a system provides avariable spring deflection and surface contact depending on thetolerance of the parts. Another prior art electrical connector uses apair of cantilever V-shaped springs extending transversely of themale-member rather than longitudinally and is an effort to insure lowlinear engagement of the spring member to the male member to reducedimensions of the connection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The socket connector of this inventionadvantageously provides torsion spring forces acting on wassociated malemember serving toincrease the electrical contact and retention forces inthe connection. The unique torsional forces are provided through the useof a plurality of beams twisted along a longitudinal extent of thesocket member. The beams are provided with internal mating surfaceswhich form tracking elements to apply positive twisting forces to themale contact member as the male member is inserted into the bore of thesocket contact.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a socket contactwhich exerts a torsional or twisting force on a pin member. I

It is another objectof the invention to provide a positive grippingconnection over a relatively large contact areawith a mating malecontact member.

An advantage of the present invention is the use of twisted trackmembers to retain a pin within a socket and to provide anaggressiveelectrical contact between the two members. I

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunctionwith the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view showing atypical application of the connectors of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of one embodiment of the connector ofthe invention shown prior to association with a male contact.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2. I

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the connector shown in FIG. 2 afterthe socket connector has been associated with a male contact member.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the connection taken along line 55 of FIG.4.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the contacts shown in FIG. 2 andviewed from a plane rotated ap- I 11-11 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of yet another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 13-43 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a top view of the connector shown in FIG. 12, after thesocket connector has been associated with a male contact member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning first to FIG. 1, thereis shown a pair of connection modules 10 and 12 which represent atypical application of the contact socket of the present invention.Module 10 includes a plurality of such socket members 14 arranged to beassociated with male contact members-l6 in module 12. Suitable conductorwires 18 are attached to both the socket and pin members l4 and 16,respectively.

FIGS. 2-6 clearly show one embodiment of contact socket 14. Socket 14includes a front sleeve or ferrule portion 22 and rear sleeve or ferruleportion 24 interconnected by a plurality of beam members 26. FIG. 3shows that the beams 26 are elongated, channel-like members,circumferentially spaced about the axis of the bore extending throughthe socket. The ferrule portions 22 and 24 are shown as a polygon havingfour sides with the beams 26 essentially being extensions of the corners30 and 32 of the respective front and rear sleeves. Turning again toFIG. 3, it is important to note that the beams are angle members withinner surfaces formed from longitudinally extending flat surfacesintersecting at an apex 28. These inner surfaces and apices28 formtracks in which associated corners of the spareshaped pin l6will followas it isinserted through the socket. The rear sleeve 24 is shown to beangularly twisted or rotated out of alignment with the front sleeve 22.The beam members 26 are similarly twisted out of alignment with thecorners 30 of the front sleeve. The contact 14, rear portion 24 andbeams 26 are in the twisted position shown in FIG. 2 prior to theinsertion of a pin and when the pin 16 is inserted therethrough thebeams as shown in FIG. 37 will be twisted in a clockwise direction toassume the position of FIG. 5. However, since the beams are biasedtoward their twisted position, they will exert a constant twisting ortorsion force on the pin 16 through the positive engage ment of theapices 28 and associated inner surfaces of the beams 26 and the cornersof the pin 16. This torsion force applied to the pin serves to providefirm, aggressive electrical contact between the two contact members andfurther to provide a strong mechanical gripping force tending to retainthe pin 16 in the socket.

FIG. 6 is another side view of the connector shown in FIG. 2 but takenalong a plane disposed approximately 45 from the longitudinal plane ofFIG. 2. Thus,

it is apparent that the front and rear barrel portions 22 and 24 aresimilar in configuration but are not angularly aligned with each other.The tab means 25 extending rearwardly from the rear barrel portionenables conductors 18 to be attached to the contact 14 in a conventionalfashion.

The beam members 26 are circumferentially spaced from one another byapertures 35. However, cantilever spring members 34 are provided toextend between at least a pair of beams 26 and are normally biasedradially outwardly from the contact member 14. The contact shown inFIGS. 2-6 is adapted to be inserted and locked in a block 38 or a modulesuch as I in FIG. 1. The block 38 may be provided with a cavity havingfront and rear portions 40 and 42, respectively. The front cavity 40 hasa cross-sectional configuration which is complementary to the polygonalcrosssectional shape of the ferrules 22 and 24. The contact 14 isinserted into the cavity from the left as shown in FIG. 2 until thespring members 34 snap out behind a shoulder between the front and rearcavities and until the abutment lugs 36 abut the outer face of theblock. The retaining springs 34 and lugs 36 thus serve to lock themember within the cavity. It should be noted that this embodiment of theinvention will be twisted as it is inserted into the cavity but willreadily resume its normal biased position once it is disposed in themanner shown in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 7-10 describe a further embodiment of the invention incorporatingthe basic principles described above. Socket contact 14a includes frontand rear ferrule portions 22a and 24a interconnected by a torsion springsection, including a plurality of beams 26a. In this embodiment, thecorners of the front and rear ferrules are aligned while the beams 26aare twisted out of alignment with the corners of each ferrule portion.The internal surfaces of the beams again intersect at an apex 28a andact as tracking surfaces for the associated pin member 16a in a mannersimilar to that described above. The cavity in the housing-38a is of apolygonal shape complementary to the cross-sectional configuration ofthe contact 14a, but the rear portion of the cavity is, of course, of across-sectional area large enough to allow the beams 26a to be twistedduring insertion of the male contact member.

Contact member 140 is designed to be inserted from the front of themodule or from the right of the cavity shown in FIG. 7. Spring members340 compress upon entering the cavity and spring back into lockingengagement with a shoulder in the cavity. These spring members 34a arealso retained in a longitudinal slot 44 thus stabilizing the contactwithin the cavity. Lug members 36a serve to limit the insertion of thecontact in the cavity, as well as providing a slightly flared apertureaiding in the insertion of the pin in the socket. During insertion ofthe contact 14a within the complementary cavity, the beam sections 260will be required to twist against their normal bias and return to theposition of FIG. 7. FIGS. and 11 represent the configuration of thecontact when it is associated with a pin member. The beams 26a willexert a constant twisting force on such a pin.

Yet another embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 12-14 is adaptedto be inserted from the rear of the module or housing. Contact member1412 is insertable from the left of the FIG. 12, first passing through arear cavity 42b and retained in an operative position by flexible springretaining members 34h. Members 34h are retained in slots 44b in thefront cavity 40b and abut the shoulder between the front and rearcavity. Abutment lugs 36b limit the axial insertion of the contactmember in the cavity and are seated in radially extending slots, asshown in FIG. 14, retaining members 341; and 36b serving to also preventrelative rotation of the contact within the cavity.

The contact itself includes front and rear ferrule portions 22b and 24bhaving a polygonal configuration and including comer portions 30!; and32b. The corner portions of the front and rear barrels are shown to bean gularly misaligned originally as shown clearly in FIGS. 12 and 13.The ferrule portions are integrally attached to one another through thetorsion spring section including a plurality of beamlike members 26b.The beamlike members, in a manner similar to the above describedembodiments, include internal tracking surfaces which are essentiallyextensions of the internal corners of the barrel portions.

While the invention has been described above in connection with severalembodiments, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventionis not necessarily limited to the embodiments described herein and thatit is not intended to limit the invention to such embodiments. On thecontrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications andequivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A female electrical contact member adapted to receive a correspondingmale contact member, said female member including at least one ferruleportion having a polygonal bore therethrough, a plurality of beamsextending longitudinally from the ferrule portion, each beam comprisinga pair of intersecting surfaces forming an internal corner, the cornersof the beams forming longitudinal extensions of corner sections of thepolygonal bore, said corner section extensions being twisted at leastpartially along their length thus being angularly displaced from therespective corners of the ferrule portion, wherein the insertion of thecorresponding male member through the ferrule and beams twists the beamsinto alignment with the corners of the bore and creates torsional stresson the male member substantially throughout the length of the contact ofthe male member with the twisted beams.

2. A contact member in accordance with claim 1, which includes a frontand rear ferrule portion interconnected by the plurality of beams.

3. A contact member in accordance with claim I, wherein the polygonalbore is rectangular in cross sectional configuration.

4. A contact member in accordance with claim 1, wherein ferrule portionsare located at opposite ends of the bore and are interconnected by theplurality of beams, the ferrule portions being displaced angularlyrelative to the axis of the bore.

5. A contact member in accordance with claim 1, which includescantilever spring members extending radially from the ferrule portion toretain the contact member in an appropriate cavity.

6. A contact member in accordance with claim 5, which includes abutmentlugs extending radially from a ferrule portion to limit axial movementof the contact member in one direction while the cantilever springmember limits axial movement in the other direction.

7. A contact member in accordance with claim 1, wherein a pair ofpolygonally shaped ferrule portions are located at opposite extremes ofthe bore with the corners of the ferrule portions being in angularalignment.

8. A female contact having a longitudinal passage extending therethroughfor the reception of an associated male contact, said female contactcomprising a noncircular barrel portion at one end and having anoncircular bore therethrough. the bore including a plurality oflongitudinally extending internal tracking surfaces to nonrotativelymate with complementary external tracking surfaces extending along thelength of an associated male contact, torsion beam means extending fromthe barrel and generally along the longitudinal passage, the internalsurfaces of the beam means forming corners which are extensions of theinternal tracking surfaces and which are twisted out of radial alignmentwith the internal tracking surfaces to provide torsional stress on themale contact as it is inserted through the beam means as the corners ofthe beam means are twisted into radial alignment with the internaltracking surfaces.

9. A socket contact in accordance with claim 8, wherein the beam meanscomprises a plurality of elongate angle members opening toward thecentral axis of the contact and spaced circumferentially around theaxis.

10. A socket contact in accordance with claim 9,

wherein a longitudinal segment of each angle member is twisted about alongitudinal axis.

11. A contact member in accordance with claim 8, in combination with ahousing wherein the housing is provided with a cavity to accommodate thecontact member, the cavity including an axially extending portion havinga cross-sectional configuration generally complementary to thenoncircular barrel portion of the contact to retain the barrel portiontherein against relative rotary motion as the associated male contact isinserted therein.

12. The combination claimed in claim 11, wherein the cavity includes ashoulder means extending radially therein and the contact includingresilient spring means extending radially outwardly adapted to radiallycompress as the contact is inserted through the shoulder means and toprovide means preventing removal of the socket from the cavity.

1. A female electrical contact member adapted to receive a correspondingmale contact member, said female member including at least one ferruleportion having a polygonal bore therethrough, a plurality of beamsextending longitudinally from the ferrule portion, each beam comprisinga pair of intersecting surfaces forming an internal corner, the cornersof the beams forming longitudinal extensions of corner sections of thepolygonal bore, said corner section extensions being twisted at leastpartially along their length thus being angularly displaced from therespective corners of the ferrule portion, wherein the insertion of thecorresponding male member through the ferrule and beams twists the beamsinto alignment with the corners of the bore and creates torsional stresson the male member substantially throughout the length of the contact ofthe male member with the twisted beams.
 2. A contact member inaccordance with claim 1, which includes a front and rear ferrule portioninterconnected by the plurality of beams.
 3. A contact member inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the polygonal bore is rectangular incross-sectional configuration.
 4. A contact member in accordance withclaim 1, wherein ferrule portions are located at opposite ends of thebore and are interconnected by the plurality of beams, the ferruleportions being displaced angularly relative to the axis of the bore. 5.A contact member in accordance with claim 1, which includes cantileverspring members extending radially from the ferrule portion to retain thecontact member in an appropriate cavity.
 6. A contact member inaccordance with claim 5, which includes abutment lugs extending radiallyfrom a ferrule portion to limit axial movement of the contact member inone direction while the cantilever spring member limits axial movementin the other direction.
 7. A contact member in accordance with claim 1,wherein a pair of polygonally shaped ferrule portions are located atopposite extremes of the bore with the corners of the ferrule portionsbeing in angular alignment.
 8. A female contact having a longitudinalpassage extending therethrough for the reception of an associated malecontact, said female contact comprising a noncircular barrel portion atone end and having a noncircular bore therethrough, the bore including aplurality of longitudinally extending internal tracking surfaces tononrotatively mate with complementary external tracking surfacesextending along the length of an associated male contact, torsion beammeans extending from the barrel and generally along the longitudinalpassage, the internal surfaces of the beam means forming corners whichare extensions of the internal tracking surfaces and which are twistedout of radial alignment with the internal tracking surfaces to providetorsional stress on the male contact as it is inserted through the beammeans as the corners of the beam means are twisted into radial alignmentwith the internal tracking surfaces.
 9. A socket contact in accordancewith claim 8, wherein the beam means comprises a plurality of elongateangle members opening toward the central axis of the contact and spacedcircumferentially around the axis.
 10. A socket contact in accordancewith claim 9, wherein a longitudinal segment of each angle member istwisted about a longitudinal axis.
 11. A contact member in accordancewith claim 8, in combination with a housing wherein the housing isprovided with a cavity to accommodate the contact member, the cavitYincluding an axially extending portion having a cross-sectionalconfiguration generally complementary to the noncircular barrel portionof the contact to retain the barrel portion therein against relativerotary motion as the associated male contact is inserted therein. 12.The combination claimed in claim 11, wherein the cavity includes ashoulder means extending radially therein and the contact includingresilient spring means extending radially outwardly adapted to radiallycompress as the contact is inserted through the shoulder means and toprovide means preventing removal of the socket from the cavity.